Stuart Armstrong Hitting Form At The Right Time For Scotland

The Tartan Army might have been a bit fearful of Scotland’s play-off chances when they heard that midfielders John McGinn and Scott McTominay had suffered from serious injuries.

Both middle-men have had extremely impressive seasons in the Premier League this term, with McGinn in particular being able to transition that form onto the international scene.

Scotland always miss top stars when they can’t make squads but the recent form of Stuart Armstrong could ease the fans worries when it comes to our midfield.

Southampton had a pretty slow start to the season and early on Armstrong struggled to break into the Saints first eleven. It must have been particularly galling as he watched on and see a few other Scottish midfielders shining in both top flights North and South of the border.

Yet Stuart has always acted professionally and clearly knuckled down in training to get out of his slump. He has now regained a spot in the team and he has shown respected German coach Ralph Hasenhüttl that he can handle himself when it counts.

Armstrong has been starting on the right in recent weeks, but he enjoys stepping inside whenever possible as seen as he scored a wonderful strike against Crystal Palace this midweek:

The twenty-seven year old always works hard for the team and will do his upmost to get forward and link up with his team’s attacking players. Scotland always need a midfielder that can make clever forward runs and support their number nine as well as a player who can hit the odd strike from distance.

Armstrong has grabbed two goals in his last three outings for Southampton, with his side claiming two important victories in those games.

The former Celtic and Dundee United man could be the man that slips into John McGinn’s spot in Steve Clarke’s Scotland team that face Israel in March, as long as he stays fit and in form.

It’s also a bonus that Stuart has already impressed in a Scotland jersey in the past, so he knows what it means to do well for his country.

The form of John Fleck is also another plus point as we look to have a new midfield for that vital play off clash. We’ve also got Callum McGregor, Ryan Christie and Ryan Jack enjoying consistently good seasons in the Scottish Premiership.

Then we have Barry Bannan and Tom Cairney performing extremely well in the English Championship. They could be important figure if they are needed back in the fold.

While it’s a pity that both McTominay and McGinn are out injured at the moment, it’s very encouraging that we now have some strength in depth in our pool that means we can still have a competitive squad for our crunch games in March!